Roller chain is in common use today for driving a wide variety of tools and implements. Commonly, roller chain is manufactured in a continuous process. The chain is separated into, for example, hundred foot reels which can then be shipped to distributors. A distributor will then, in turn, ship the roller chain to its dealers or end users in one of two forms--reel form or loop form. Likewise, a dealer may then supply an end user or consumer with the roller chain in loop form for use.
A loop of roller chain is a specific length of chain for a specific type of use, and is formed from the original reel of chain. To form such a loop, at least one of the links of the roller chain must be separated to give the roller chain the proper length. Likewise, the proper length of roller chain must then be reassembled to form the necessary loop.
Numerous devices have been proposed for breaking (i.e., disassembling) roller chain. A typical arrangement employed by these devices features clamp with a screw threaded rod which advances against a roller chain connecting pin to press it out of its link. However, this type of device has proven generally unacceptable in that it frequently damages the roller link ends and ruins substantial amounts of chain. Further, the punch pins of these known devices tend to bend or break, resulting in high
Additional devices have been developed which may be hand operated to push pins out of chains. Unfortunately, these devices are cumbersome to operate and require an excessive amount of force to push out the connecting pins. Additionally, these devices typically are sized to fit a particular type of chain or, if sized for a variety of chains, do not have the degree of accuracy necessary for a satisfactory operation. Often however, grinders are used to grind down the heads of connecting pins and then hand punches are used to drive out the pins. This routinely destroys the link plates and often the entire roller link.
Still further, devices have been developed utilizing hydraulic rams to drive pins out of roller chain. As cam be imagined, these devices are extremely bulky and are complicated and costly to manufacture.
Given the foregoing, there is a need for a simple device which can be used to both assemble and disassemble chain of a variety of sizes and types, the ideal device would use interchangeable parts which could easily be inserted and removed from the tool to quickly adjust the tool to match a given size chain.
The present invention is directed to a device for assembling and disassembling, among other things, roller chain. In addition, the present invention is directed to a cam-based device which is simple and easy to manufacture, yet durable. Still further, the invention is directed to a chain assembler and disassembler which allows a single die set to be interchanged to allow the device to accommodate a different size roller chain.